


Spin! The! Thermos!

by JAFOST



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Canon Typical Humor, F/M, Truth or Dare, Two Shot, With A Twist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 04:00:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26346760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JAFOST/pseuds/JAFOST
Summary: An Ecto-Storm brewing in the Ghost Zone traps eleven and a half ghosts in a bar. Fighting the horrid feeling of boredom and brewing tension between the occupants, some genius (Kitty) decided it would be a fun idea to a cliché game. With a Twist! Two-shot.
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Ember McLain
Comments: 6
Kudos: 41





	Spin! The! Thermos!

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally supposed to be a one-shot. But got very long during writing it, so I decided to break it into a two-shot. Plus, I like to keep things segmented and divided evenly. So this is mostly the intro, the next part should be completed without taking too much time. In the meantime, enjoy this prologue of sorts.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom and its characters. The show and characters belong to Butch Hartman.

**Spin. The. Thermos!**

**The Setting**

Ecto-Storms are rare occurrences in the Ghost Zone. This natural phenomenon behaves similar to the typical thunderstorms in the human world. Except instead of clouds, it's ectoplasm. And way worse. Typically, when an eco-storm happens, it's too dangerous to navigate the Ghost Zone without getting struck by an ectoplasmic discharge.

For ghosts: At best, they are left with a burn and scar. At worst, having their molecules scrambled. With a 50/50 chance of it being permanent.

As such, most ghosts would either take shelter or stay out of the Ghost Zone to wait out the storm. Some are able to wait out in the comfort of their own realm or haunt the human world. And there are those who have the misfortune of being stuck with other ghosts.

Somewhere in the Ghost Zone was a relatively new building effortlessly withstanding the ecto-storm. This building was called the Ghost Hotel. And in this hotel, is an example of the latter scenario.

In the hotel's bar were three separate group of ghosts.

At one table sat four female ghosts: A princess, a rock diva, a biker girl, and a redhead.

A few hours ago, Princess Dorathea was wandering through the zone and happened to cross Ember McLain, Kitty, and Penelope Spectra who were preparing for another girl's night. The princess had never gone on a girl's night and got curious enough to ask the trio. When the words, 'go wild' came into the discussion, the princess was eager to join them. A sentiment that was met with a simultaneous nonchalant acceptance. Sadly their night was cut short by the sudden forming storm, forcing them to seek shelter at the closest realm.

At the counter of the bar were three ghosts minding their own business, with a fourth one who helmed the counter.

The genie Desiree with her head resting on her hand, while her free hand was drumming against the counter-top. Her red eyes lazily staring at her half-finished drink. Sitting on the stool to her right was the Box Ghost who was laser focused on the task at hand: folding several pieces of not-origami paper into boxes, all with differing results and none of them perfect. Two stools on his right, sat the right-hand ghost of the warden having a somewhat decent meal. And approaching in front of him was the Lunch Lady, who quietly offered him a refill of his beverage. Which Bullet nodded in acceptance.

Finally, at a booth in the corner, a brewing tension was astir. Skulker and Nicolai Technus sat on one end of the booth, clutching their drinks with angry glares directed at the halfa across from them. Danny Phantom, number 1 hero of Amity Park and number 1 enemy of the Ghost Zone, sat on the other side. His eyes looking everywhere but at the two ghosts while sweat was forming. And sitting beside him with a sympathetic expression was Johnny 13.

A collection of ghosts like this in one room was a recipe for destructive disaster. Except for the fact this hotel was treated as neutral grounds for accepted ghosts. If any of them started getting violent with one another, they would get kicked out. And add that there was the ecto-storm happening outside, no one in the hotel wanted to start something.

As a result, the tone of the entire bar could be unanimously agreed as …

_**SHEER** _

_**ABSOLUTE** _

_**BOREDOM** _

"So, this is what you call a wild night?" Dorathea asked with genuine confusion.

Ember who was fiddling with the dial on her guitar answered. "First half with the mischief? Yes. This? Not part of the agenda."

"It's not so bad." Kitty piped up. "A little setback shouldn't stop us from just having a nice bonding sess."

Dorathea glowered with disappointment. "But I wanted to go wild!"

Ember glared. "Yeah? Well tough luck, sister. There's barely a wild thing to do between that stupid storm and this dull hotel. Speaking of, where is the manager?" Ember turned her head in all directions.

With the three of them exchanging words, Spectra had her attention elsewhere with calm amusement. Taking a sip from her drink, she decided to speak up.

"Now, now, girls. I am confident something … entertaining will come."

The three girls turned to where the older ghost woman had her attention focused on.

"It's just a matter of time before those two have a crack at the Phantom boy." Spectra smiled with anticipated excitement.

Ember shared a smirk. Kitty started getting nervous for the halfa while Dorathea remained clueless.

* * *

Meanwhile at the booth, Danny Phantom was about ready to crack under the pressure of the situation that was placed on him. In his mind, all he could think of was getting out of here. And blaming Johnny for roping him into this.

It was the weekend and his friends were not available to hang out with him. His parents were away for a conference, leaving Jazz in charge. He spent half the day trying to alleviate his boredom from video games to even getting ahead on his schoolwork. All in all, it was a dull affair until his ghost sense triggered. That was when he was confronted by Johnny, who to his surprise wanted him to hang out with him for the evening. Something about Kitty having a girl's night and him being bored.

Maybe it was his own boredom that pushed Danny to take the impulsive decision to hang out with the biker ghost. But Johnny was not a bad ghost by any means. Danny accepted his offer while bringing his thermos for precaution.

Long story short: Johnny took him to the new Ghost Hotel, which led to an inadvertent meeting with Skulker and Technus. Seeing that red flag, Danny was about ready to bolt back to Fenton Works. But then Ember, Kitty, Spectra, and surprisingly Princess Dorathea dashed into the hotel in relief. Before he could wonder what happened, the Ecto-Storm came.

Now, he was stuck with eleven other ghosts, the majority who want nothing more than to pummel him.

"So … Tech-Man, got any predictions when this storm will pass?" Johnny asked amidst the growing animosity from the two hostile ghosts.

That question was enough to make Technus stop glaring and turn away from the halfa. The electrical ghost pushed a button on some gadget on his wrist.

"By my calculations, I estimate that it'll last the entire night. It should clear out by morning." Technus answered. Johnny groaned, letting his head fall on his hand.

"Ah, that bites."

Danny rolled his eyes at Johnny's verbal complaint. It wasn't like he was stuck in a room of ghosts who hate him.

Danny pulled his phone out and checked the time.

"Oh, look at that. It's getting really late." It wasn't. It was 9:26 PM, but staying here any longer will make Danny literally crack from the situation.

Pushing a forced smile, Danny continued, "Time sure flies when you're having fun. Don't know about you guys, but I'm going to hit the sack."

He started to stand until Johnny grabbed his arm with a cautionary gaze. "Not a smart move there, Phantom."

Danny raised an eyebrow at Johnny's warning.

"No 13," Skulker finally spoke with restrained calmness, "it is getting late. The whelp must leave and get home the second the storm is gone. Let him get his rest."

"Yeah," Technus pointed, "… and the second he falls asleep. We'll mess him up so bad that he'll never sleep again! Ha-ha-ha-HAAA!~~"

The cackling from the electrical ghost ended when he realized what just happened.

"… I said too much, haven't I?" Technus lowered his arms, back slouched.

Skulker glared with annoyance. "Idiot."

Danny stared bug-eyed between Technus's outburst and Johnny stopping him.

"Even with the no violence clause on these grounds, they can still mess with you in different ways." Johnny explained. "Probably better off staying here for the time being. At least here, some of us can keep an eye on you."

Danny dropped back on his seat in defeat. "Swell."

Skulker slammed his fist on the table. "Don't get too comfortable, whelp. Sooner or later, you're going to have to sleep. And the moment you let your guard down …" The cup in his hand shattered from the strangling grip.

Danny gulped, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Eh-heh-heh … Looks like I'm pulling an all-nighter tonight."

* * *

"Can I refill your cup, dearie?"

The Lunch Lady's offer made Desiree turn away from the drama that was stirring from the booth. She pushed her empty cup to the bartender.

"Please."

The Lunch Lady happily refilled the cup. "Do you want anything else?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Desiree dismissed the woman.

With the Lunch Lady gone, Desiree turned back to the booth. At one point there seemed to be something that could happen to make this night more entertaining. But it seemed to have been short lived thanks to that greased biker. The ghost genie sighed, taking a sip of her refilled beverage.

"Ha! Ha!" Came the triumphant voice of the Box Ghost. "I have finally created the perfect folded paper box!"

The ghost shoved the folded paper in front of her. "Behold! Its symmetric perfection!"

To his credit, it was a nicely folded paper square box. A lot better than the growing trash pile he made that was beside him. And it wasn't even origami paper.

But it was still not a huge achievement by any means.

"You must feel so proud of yourself." Desiree said sarcastically.

The sarcasm was lost on the ghost, who took the compliment with pride. "Yeah! It took me an hour to finally get this perfect form!"

"Ooh. Very nice, Boxy." Lunch Lady clapped lightly.

Desiree turned dumbfounded when the Box Ghost said it took him an hour to get that perfect fold. It was not because it took him that long to make it.

But that she's been sitting here for an hour at least. An hour in this dead dull room since the storm happened.

"This is just getting sad." Desiree moped.

"Why don't you get the halfa boy to wish this storm away?" Bullet finally spoke.

"If I could, I would." Desiree snidely answered back. "Except this storm interferes with my powers. And even if the wish works, it might backfire on us."

"Then you're stuck with us. Too bad, so sad." Bullet shrugged with mock sympathy, going back to his meal.

Desiree glared at him. "I hope you choke."

The awkward silence continued for another handful of minutes with each group doing nothing to change the tone.

It was only a matter of time before someone cracks.

* * *

"Argh! That! Is! It!"

All eyes turned to the ghost who stood and shouted her frustration. Princess Dorathea didn't care anymore. This silence had gone on long enough for her.

"I can't take another hour like this! Can we please do something fun?" she begged.

Desiree huffed. "And what would you have in mind, princess?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Dorathea started counting with her fingers. "Throw a party? Karaoke!? Dancing!? Games!? Anything but whatever this is!" she waved her arms crazily.

"No parties." The attention shifts to Bullet who made that monotonous order.

Ember stood up. "Hey news flash! Your warden's precious rules don't work in here!"

"That's not what I meant, McLain." Bullet answered while focusing on his supper. "Just looking at the occupants here in this _bar_ , I can see a disaster in the making if a hypothetical party goes out of control. And it will."

He turned to all of them. "You all want to take that risk on another ghost's realm?"

Kitty raised her hand. "Easy then, one wish from Desiree and everything would be like it was."

"Hey!" Desiree snapped with disdain, "I'm not taking the fall and being responsible for afterparty duty just for the lot of you."

"Aw come one! Take one for the team, Desi~~!" Kitty pouted.

"No." Desiree replied plainly. She pointed at Kitty with a dark look. "And if you wish me to go along with this, I'm going to make the party a living nightmare."

No one made any rebuttal.

Bullet smirked proudly. "I rest my case."

Ember sat back down, arms crossed and irritated. "Killjoy."

Dorathea, on the other hand, was not easily discouraged. "Well! Then what about singing?"

Ember rolled her eyes. "Sure, who wants to make a fool of themselves first?"

Most of the male ghosts shared an uncomfortable look at the idea of singing in front of everyone. At once, they came to a mental agreement.

"No singing." All of them said in sync.

Ember turned to Dorathea with a motion of her hand. "There's your answer."

Dorathea scowled with a pout.

"And dancing is out of the question." Spectra spoke out.

"Ahh." Kitty whined.

Dorathea stared incredulously at Spectra. "Why!?"

Spectra raised her voice. "Everyone who is not Johnny and Kitty, raise your hands if you want to dance."

With the exception of the Lunch Lady and Box Ghost, most everyone responded with an exchange of awkward glances at each other. Bathing in the awkward silence, Spectra grinned at the sad Dorathea.

"And like that, we've exhausted three out of four options."

Dorathea just glared at the redhead.

"Fine." Dorathea turned back to everyone with arms raised. "Does anyone have a problem with playing games?"

The ghosts turned to one another again. No awkwardness was between them, instead a sliver of interest at the harmless idea.

"Sounds good."

"Alright."

"It'll sure kill this boredom."

"IAMTHEBOXGHOST."

Dorathea smiled briefly. But shifted her expression to wary at the grey ghost. All heads turn to Bullet, who was drinking. Without batting an eye at them, Bullet answered.

"Keep this place in tact, and I'll turn a blind eye."

Dorathea beamed. "Yes! Finally!"

"Games, huh?" Kitty cupped her chin in thought.

"So, what game do you have in mind, princess?" Johnny asked.

Dorathea looked at everyone with an encouraging smile. "Well I was actually hoping to hear some options from you all first."

Skulker raised his hand. "I have one: Who's up for a round of 'pin the ghost tail on the whelp'?" He ended by punching into his fist with an evil smile.

Sweating even more from the growing anxiety (and the possibility that game could happen), Danny tried diverting Skulker's proposal.

"U-Uh hey, Technus!" Danny called out with forced enthusiasm. "You don't happen to have any handheld games on you, do you?"

Technus gave an actual look of pity. "Sorry, Ghost Boy. I got no video games on me."

"Maybe there's some board games lying around here." Lunch Lady suggested while cleaning a plate.

The sound of a chair scrapping against the wooden floor as it's pushed back echoed. All eyes turned to the perpetrator who had a big smile of enthusiasm on her face.

"I have an idea!" Kitty stood up to proclaim.

Johnny walked up to his girlfriend. "What's on your mind, Kitten?"

"Let's play Truth or Dare!"

A resounding silence came at Kitty's suggestion. Half the ghosts stared at her perplexed.

Desiree decided to voice out what they wanted to say at Kitty's idea. "Really?"

Kitty gave everyone an encouraging expression. "It's the perfect game, guys. It's not too crazy to be destructive, but still entertaining."

No one voiced any objections. Both in agreement over Kitty's logic and in silent nervousness at what could go wrong. But the game's enticing nature was winning over most of them.

"Ah, what the heck. Let's go for it." Skulker of all people complied first. This led to the other ghosts agreeing to Kitty's joy.

"Yes!" Kitty bounced.

The ghosts started gathering around the center of the room. There wasn't a table big enough for over ten ghosts, so they decided to move some of the tables and chairs away to make room for the floor.

Except for two.

"You're not going to join them?" Bullet asked.

The Lunch Lady shook her head. "If I was a few years younger, I would've loved to play that game. But I outgrew it long ago. Besides, someone's got to keep the counter manned." She placed the clean plate on the pile.

"Aren't you going to join them, dearie?"

"Nope."

"Any reasons why?"

"Nope." Bullet repeated, taking a sip.

The Lunch Lady shrugged, unaffected by Bullet's short but concise answer. "Okay then." She pulled out a dessert. "Blueberry Pie?"

"… sure."

* * *

With the center cleared of furniture, the nine ghosts and Danny were sat on the floor in a circle. Kitty stood up from her spot, hands behind her.

"Alright, everyone. Normally how I played this, each person spins a bottle and whoever it lands on, that player has to do a dare or tell a truth. Got it?" Everyone nodded. "Good, but let's make this more exciting." Kitty finished with a smirk.

Danny could feel the group turning tense at that remark.

"This can't be good." Ember, who sat on Kitty's right and left of Danny, worried.

"For this game, this will be the bottle." Kitty pulled her hands out from behind.

Everyone gasped or flinched back at the recognizable thermos in her hand. Danny had the biggest look of shock on his face. He looked over and reached for where his thermos was secured, only to feel nothing.

"Kitty! When did you –"

"I swiped it when you weren't looking." Kitty answered proudly.

Skulker pointed an accusing finger at her. "What are you scheming here, woman?"

Kitty waved her hands, attempting to settle the anxious tension. "Easy guys. I'm not planning anything evil with this. Just spicing things up. Think of this, as the penalty."

The response from everyone came in a resounding, "What?"

Kitty lifted the thermos. "If the player refuses the dare or refuses to tell the truth or even lie, they get a time out in the thermos for 7 minutes."

All the ghosts stared incredulously at what she just said. None of them more nervous about this then Danny. His mind going on overdrive at the idea of someone taking advantage of the situation to either steal the thermos or abuse it. Especially when said participants were majorly his enemies.

"That's … not as bad as it sounds."

The ghosts, baring Kitty, and Danny stared at Ember's proclaimed acceptance of this crazy idea.

"What? Most all of us have been sucked in that stupid soup can at least once." Ember defended.

Princess Dorathea, who sat on Danny's right, tilted her head. "I haven't." she said cluelessly.

"Well stick around, you're hanging in the right crowd." Danny glared at Ember's snarky response.

Kitty smiled at Ember's support. "You're right, Ember. It's not as bad." Her mischievous expression returned. "Which is why, in addition to the player who forfeits, whoever is at the rear end of the thermos. In other words, opposite to the player. That other player gets sucked in with them."

If the thermos reveal was shocking, that added rule dropped the bomb for everyone. Even Ember couldn't hold her disbelief at Kitty's words.

"You can't be serious, Kitty."

Kitty smugly looked at her rocker friend. "Oh, I am, Ember. But I'm not done."

"There's more!?" Technus exclaimed.

"If the forfeited player does not want to get stuck with the player opposite of them, they can spin the thermos. Whoever it lands on, will be their replaced roommate. And by doing this, the forfeited player loses their turn to the replaced roommate."

Kitty placed the thermos at the center on its side.

"That's all. Tell me that doesn't sound like it would be fun."

No one said anything, probably processing everything Kitty said. Danny was on the brink of outright cancelling the idea and lecturing Kitty for abusing Fenton property.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Princess Dorathea shouted enthusiastically.

A large grin formed on Spectra's face. "It does sound rather exciting."

"Hm." Skulker, who was pondering, also grinned. "7 minutes with the whelp where he cannot escape."

It was then that Danny realized that Skulker sat across from him.

Technus, who sat beside Skulker, also grinned. "Sounds like the perfect opportunity for vengeance!"

The trepidation that was growing in Danny was about ready to erupt in a scream at what was happening. He shot his hand up.

"I call for a different game!" Danny proposed, earning a glare from Kitty.

Johnny also raised a hand. "I have to agree with Phantom. Not thrilled to about being stuck in that cramped thing." Never had Danny felt so happy to have Johnny here with him.

A third hand rose. "Likewise."

The two of them turned in surprise at Ember. She redirected their look with a plain look. "What? Even I think this is too crazy for my taste."

5 to 3, with the Box Ghost and Desiree being silent on the matter. But it wasn't necessarily an agreement to Kitty's idea on their part.

"Oh Johnny~" Johnny turned to Kitty who sat across from him, face flirtatious. "7. Minutes." She tempted.

And with a dumb grim, Johnny switched sides so fast.

"I'm in!" he shouted eagerly.

Kitty smirked at Danny and Ember. "6 against 4. Majority rules. We're playing Spin the Thermos."

Danny and Ember glared at Johnny.

"Traitor." Danny scathed.

"Leave him be, Danny. He's just eager to play this game is all." Kitty reached for the thermos.

"Since I came up with this game, I'll start us off … Oh! And one more rule: we cannot repeat the same choice in a row. So, if you pick truth, you can't pick truth again on your next turn. Got it?"

No one made any complaints on that final rule.

"Alright! Then let's …"

**SPIN! THE! THERMOS!**

**Author's Note:**

> ... in part 2.


End file.
